Unexpected Future
by Galadriel1010
Summary: Jack and Ianto find something they didn't expect whilst searching an underground facility. Janto, of course
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Honestly inspired by the first line, the rest of it just sort of came from there... Set post Exit Wounds, post my version of Lost Souls.

* * *

Jack held his gun out in front of him and looked both ways down the underground corridor. "Ianto?" he called, slight panic in his voice, "Ianto, answer me!"

"Yes, sir?" The young man appeared at one end of the corridor looking mildly amused until he saw Jack's expression. Once he recognised the fear his partner tried valiantly to hide he vowed to stay closer, reassuring him. It had been a bad week already; Jack didn't need his nerves testing further.

"Don't scare me like that Yan." Jack grumbled, slightly embarrassed

"Sorry Jack." As their eyes met and they smiled at each other, Ianto felt Jack slip his hand into his own and squeezed it gently.

Looking more secure now, the captain looked up and down the corridor again. They stood at a T junction, with the one he'd come up behind him, the one Ianto had come up stretching away to the right and an as yet unexplored one to the left. "OK, this way then?" without waiting for an answer he took the lead, hearing Ianto's near silent footfall behind him. This corridor turned a couple of times with open doorways leading to empty rooms coming off it. At the end they met a solid metal door. Jack grumbled for a moment before pulling out his lock picks. In seconds they were standing in an office, with antique desks and chairs and old looking papers. The only indication that it had been used recently was the pot plant.

"Who keeps a plant underground?" Ianto mused as he bent to study it, "Just a primrose though. No photocopiers Jack." He pointed out, making his partner smile.

"We don't even know what we're looking for." Jack scowled, "Let's check the drawers for paperwork first, go from there after."

They were both rooting fruitlessly through the drawers when a voice from the doorway startled them, "You won't find anything there."

They both turned to face a young woman with a dark pixie cut, startling blue eyes and an annoyed frown. Jack's hand moved subtly to his gun, "And how do you know what then?"

"I just checked, there's absolutely nothing interesting. Unless you like pigeons that is."

"We don't." Jack cut her off, wearing an equally annoyed frown.

"I know, what are you doing here, I can cope on my own." She folded her arms and glared at him

"We're Torchwood, that's what we're doing here. Who are you?"

She looked distinctly unimpressed, Jack reflected on how much she looked like Ianto with that quirk of her eyebrow, "So not funny, did you really need to come and check on me? I'm not a child anymore." Their bemused expressions seemed to get to her, as she started getting scared, almost desperate, "Oh come on, please tell me you're joking. It's Rose for God's sake."

Jack almost growled, but kept it back because she was getting so upset, "I only know one Rose, and you're not her."

Ianto laid a calming hand on his arm and took a step towards her. "Why should we know you?" he asked gently

At that she burst into tears and he hurried to hold her instinctively, "My name is Rose Gwenilith Harkness-Jones, I'm your daughter."


	2. Chapter 2

They had emerged from the underground facility and were sitting in the sun, one on either side of Rose, trying to piece together what had happened without her having to tell them too much of what would happen in the future.

"You mean," Ianto asked, "that Rose can't tell us what's going on, because for us it won't 'go on' for twenty years?"

"Yeah." Jack and Rose both smiled at him, evidently she'd inherited his flexible attitude to time

"This is so confusing." He buried his head in his hands and groaned

"Imagine if she's told us you were dead…" Jack swallowed hard as the usual fear gripped him, he noticed that Rose stayed carefully silent and prayed that it meant she was just being careful, not any of the other possible explanations, "She could tell me where and when and how, but I'd try to stop it, I'd do anything to stop it. Or even if I didn't know the details, I might get so over protective that you divorce me after a week and we never have kids at all." He wanted to take Ianto's hand, he wanted to hold him and never let go, but with Rose between them he couldn't. She seemed to realise this and shifted uncomfortably.

Ianto broke the discomfort by sighing deeply and dropping his head again, "Oh I know why, doesn't stop it giving me a headache though. Are you as good with tenses as he is?" he asked the now grinning girl

"Better." Rose nudged the affronted captain, "Because I actually paid attention in English Language."

"Definitely his daughter then…" Jack laughed.

"So what's the edited version?" Ianto asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she started crying again, "What's up?"

"It's like…" she leaned into him and sniffed as he rubbed her back gently, "God, I haven't done this in years." She laughed through tears, "You're not my dads. You're like them, but you're not them yet, it's really strange. Wibbly-wibbly…" she paused for a moment as if expecting a response, and her face fell when there wasn't one, "Timey-wimey indeed. Anyway, this morning you sent me to go down there to look at the files. Said there might be something you'd missed. It was the first time you let me out on my own, so when I found you down there…"

"You thought we were checking up on you." Jack smiled, "If it had been, it would have been his idea."

"Saying nothing." She smirked, "But I couldn't find anything, just pigeons. Turned to leave, went a bit down the corridor, heard you, came back, yelled at you."

"So somewhere after we entered the room you must have entered our timeline." Jack groaned, "Let's get back to the Hub and check for rift activity."

"Good thinking, can I drive?" She asked cheekily.

"Not a chance." Jack winked at her

"No change there then." She muttered


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** ODG this was supposed to be a one shot but it ate me :(

* * *

Rose bounced through the cog door and stopped short, looking around in surprise and excitement, tinged with sadness. "Five desks." She muttered, more to herself than to them, "There's five desks."

"Yeah." She jumped when Jack laid a hand on her shoulder, "We do that every day."

"Tosh and Owen." She realised, "How long?"

"A few months." Jack sighed, "This June, it's October now, October the 6th actually."

"So you've been engaged…" she frowned slightly, "Just short of three months, yeah?" Her eyes opened wide in shock, "Oh my God, it's the wedding in… 19 days!"

When they smiled at each other she took that as a yes and hurtled forwards to hug them tightly and enthusiastically. "That is so cool, oh my God, am I going to get to go to your wedding?"

Jack frowned slightly and reluctantly and brushed a loose strand of hair off her face, "Well, we'll see. If you came through the rift it might take you back before then, but even if you're still here…"

"It could create a paradox." She agreed, her face falling, but she didn't pull away from where she was now firmly ensconced in the circle formed by his arms, "I'm not in any of the photos."

Ianto tugged on her messy ponytail and headed up to make coffee with a rueful smile, "We'll see what the Doctor says."

"If he comes…" his lover muttered sadly

Rose grinned and squeezed him, "He'll come. Trust me on this one. Make sure you've got plenty of bananas." Ducking out of his arms she grabbed her bag from where she'd dropped it and set up on Ianto's desk, "Borrowing your desk Tad!" she called, grinning at his distant reply, "Erm… you'll have changed all the passwords and access codes."

"Yeah." Jack pulled up the rift monitor program on what had been Tosh's machine and studied the readouts carefully, "Let's have a look then… See there, not a rift spike, just a time slip, like last Christmas." He smiled up at Ianto as he accepted a coffee from him, "You remember?"

"How could I forget, sir?" he asked, professionalism back in place now that Jack had assumed the father role; they were both quite excited and secretly thrilled about the idea of having a child, especially when Rose was so clearly part of both of them. Neither wanted to let her go, even if they would get her back with time, "So what can we do?"

"Nothing." Jack stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning on the back of the chair as Rose watched him with her chin in her hand, "We can't control the rift, there is no way I'm going to risk trusting it to get you home. All we can do is wait for the Doctor to turn up and hope he'll take you. I'm sorry, but we can't mess with the timelines."

Both men were clearly hurt by the idea, so she gave them a reassuring smile, "Hey, I'm 19, I came through from 2029, you'll see me again before very long. And whatever you do, don't feed me broccoli."

"Why? Are you allergic to it?" Ianto asked, pulling Jack away from the chair so that he could wrap his arms around him from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder

"No." she shuddered and suppressed a smile at the familiarity of seeing her parents like that, they hadn't changed that much over the years, still dotty about each other, "I just hate the stuff. With a passion."

They laughed. "OK, well you'll be here for a few days at least, we'll have to tell Gwen." Jack mused quietly

"Maybe not the bit about 'she's our daughter' though, Gwen would get far too excited and try to beat us to it." Ianto chuckled, "We can tell her that you've come through the rift, and that we're hoping that Doctor will come for the wedding to take you back. Until then…"

"You've got a fourth team member." Rose grinned, "Fully trained and conversant in three alien languages."

"Erm, you make five actually." Ianto pointed out, "Jay's around."

"Of course!" Rose grinned and clapped her hands in excitement, "Cooool. Oh God, she's going to realise immediately who I am, she knows you too well."

"She's travelled in time, she understands timelines and stuff." Ianto ran his hand through his hair as Jack pulled away to study the rift monitor again and kicked his lover gently, "Practicalities Jack." When the immortal muttered something unintelligible he rolled his eyes and gestured to the lift, "It's just a word to you isn't it? OK, we'd best get you some clothes first, if you're going to be here for a while. We'll see you back at the house Jack, don't be too late, OK?"

They wandered arm in arm through crowds of shoppers in the late afternoon and made straight for the main shopping street, where Rose bought the essentials for a couple of weeks with Torchwood; fitted T-shirts and dark skinny fit jeans. Her boots were tough Doc Martins and her leather jacket was battered, clear signs of someone working for the alien hunting organisation, "Do we really let you work for Torchwood?" Ianto asked sadly, well aware of the dangers his daughter faced

"Not often, just when you need someone to cover or the world's ended. Dad always said he'd rather see me face the end of the world with a gun in my hands than unarmed, you and the Doc resisted, that's why I'm going to uni." She took her jacket from him and pulled it on again, picking up the bags casually and linking her arm with his again to leave the shop, "Dad's right though, Cardiff's a dangerous place, I'm better off able to defend myself; and other people."

"Yeah." He didn't look happy about it though

"Do you ever regret it, joining Torchwood? Do you ever wish you'd never known about any of this?"

"How could I regret it? I would never have known Jack, I'd never be looking at a future raising our child into a beautiful, confident and charismatic young woman and I would never have seen all the wonders this universe has to offer."

He smiled down at her but she looked concerned, "Tad… Try the truth this time?"

He shrugged and looked down at his feet, concentrating on where he was going, "Sometimes. Especially recently, what with losing Tosh and Owen… Sometimes I wish I could live a normal life and deny the existence of anything that doesn't come from Earth."

"You wouldn't know Dad though." She whispered

"No, and that's what keeps me here, keeps me fighting even when it gets too much. And now I've got something to fight for, a real future. I sometimes wonder if I'll live until the end of the week. At least now I know I'll live long enough to get Jack up the duff." He sighed, "Don't tell Jack, please. Not now or in the future. It would break his heart if he thought, if he thought I'd ever been unhappy enough to give him up."

"You'll spend the rest of your life trying to convince him he's good enough for you, you know. Well the next twenty years at least. He'll always think you deserve better."

He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently, "Well you can tell future him from me that he's wrong."

"I will do, if you'll do one thing for me."

"What's that?" He thought he probably already knew

"Tell him yourself, tonight and every night. Tell him how much he means. Because you always have, for as long as I can remember. It's one thing that's guaranteed to make him smile."

Ianto chuckled, but felt tears pricking his eyes, "Have you any idea how soppy that is?"

"Yeah." She shuddered, "Revolting, I know, let's go for pizza, please?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Erm, it's a long story as to how Jazz and John got to this point, I will be covering it once I've finished this. She was not a character I was going to leave alone, she's far too much fun to write

* * *

Ianto put the key in the lock, only to discover that it was already open. Ignoring Rose's soft giggles he pushed the door open with his elbow and the edge of his foot and called out. "Jack, you back already?"

The last voice he wanted to hear greeted him from the living room, "Evening Eye Candy, Jack's in the kitchen, he may need rescuing." The errant time agent looked amused at Ianto's evident anger, but his eyebrows raised when Rose slipped into the room behind him, "Well hello there, and who might you be?"

"My daughter, eventually." Jack had appeared from the kitchen and threw a kitchen towel at him, "Don't even think about it."

"What is he doing here?" Ianto demanded, hands on hips and glaring angrily between his lover and the unwelcome guest

John grinned evilly, "Well actually I was enjoying a quiet night out with my girlfriend, but your boyfriend here thought that she might be able to help you, and I didn't really have a choice about coming along now, did I?"

"You and Jazz?" Ianto asked, perplexed, "Good God I thought she had better taste."

"Handbags in the hall please ladies." Jasmine snapped, drying her hands on a towel as she emerged from the kitchen, "John, don't wind him up, Ianto don't let him. Honestly, you're like a pair of kids." At which point Rose, who had been trying valiantly to keep a straight face, corpsed completely. "Oh God, they never grow up, do they?" The young woman could just shake her head, tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks as she gasped for breath, "Wonderful. Lovely to meet you Rose. Glad to learn there'll be someone sane around here eventually. Or at least female."

"Sane people don't work for Torchwood Jay." Jack pointed out, retreating to the kitchen. They followed him and settled around the table, forming an emergency council. "So what are our options Commander?"

"Well first things first, Rose can't stick around for the next twenty years until she's born, it's just not feasible, no matter how much you want her to." Jack and Ianto nodded, "So we've got to get you back where you belong. It's a time shift not a rift spike, so it won't take you back on its own. We could cryogenically freeze you for twenty years." She smiled at the identical expressions of the new fathers, "But we haven't really got the space and your dads seem to have objections. This leaves us with using John's vortex manipulator to get you back."

"Not a chance." Ianto muttered, Jack silently agreed with him

"Or we wait for the Doctor to come and take you home. The problem is that we can't guarantee he'll get you back to the right time." She rested her hands palm down on the table, "The decision's up to you three, I wouldn't let John take her alone, but it's still risky. On the other hand, we know what life's like with the Doctor and what his navigation's like…"

Ianto looked equally doubtful about trusting the Doctor with his daughter, but Jack leaned back and studied Jazz carefully, "When did you get back?"

"What?"

"When did you get back from your trip with him? And how?"

Her face cleared, "Oh, that. He dropped me off in the 1920s and I 'walked' back." She mimed the quotation marks, "Why?"

"Just wondered how accurate he was these days." Jack shrugged, "But it's a bit irrelevant, was your head turned?"

"Erm, maybe." The teenage commander feigned innocence

John frowned, "When was this?"

"Eighty years ago dear." She patted his arm, "We'll leave you to make the decision, shall we see you at the Hub in the morning?"

"OK." Jack saw them to the door and gave John a non-too subtle warning, before returning to his lover and future daughter in the kitchen. They were deep in discussion and looked so similar that his heart ached. At this stage in her life, Rose looked older than Jasmine, and always would, but she was only a few years younger than Ianto, with the same childlike innocence shining through as Jack saw in his lover's unguarded moments. Twenty years from now, who would she return to, was Ianto alive, how much had age changed him? Cold fear gripped him at the thought of watching the young man age and die, why did he have to be the one who was left behind every time?

He closed his eyes briefly, trying to deny the future sitting at the table in front of him. A soft, concerned voice called him back to the present, "Jack, are you OK?"

"Yeah." He opened his eyes and smiled reassuringly at his lover, "Yeah, just thinking."

"Don't worry about the future Dad, it'll happen on its own." Rose seemed to understand his concerns and shrugged, a strangely reassuring action, "You know I can't tell you what's going to happen, but I promise you'll enjoy it. Mind you, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, who knows how your future will pan out."

He frowned at her, "You've travelled with the Doctor before, haven't you?"

She bit her lip and nodded, running a hand through her hair like Ianto did when he was nervous, "Yes… Twice actually. My God this is so weird."

"Yeah, timelines and stuff, always fun." He pulled a face and she laughed.

"So what do we do Jack?" Ianto asked quietly, "You're the expert."

The immortal sank into a chair and rested his chin in his hand, watching Rose and Ianto carefully, "You really don't want to trust John with her, do you?"

"I'm a but wary about trusting him with Jazz to be honest, and she…"

"Can take care of herself?" Rose asked, amusement evident

"Yeah. Are you about to tell me that you can take care of yourself?"

She shrugged, "I can, but not to the extent that Jazz can. Can anyone?"

Jack laughed, "Good point. Which leaves us with the Doctor."

Ianto groaned, "Do we have to? I remember coming back from Switzerland with him."

"He got us back, didn't he?" Jack hid a grin

The young Welshman glared at him, "Via three different planets and a space station, the only reason we ever got back at all is because Gwen yelled at him and the TARDIS took her side in the argument."

"He gets lonely, he didn't want to be alone anymore." Jack tried to defend his friend, which was always a bad idea

"Jack!"

Rose slammed her hands down on the table loudly and glared at them, "Grow up the pair of you! Honestly, you're worse than…" They stared at her and she hesitated, biting her lip again as if trying to stop the spoiler escaping, "You're worse than me and Jay."

Jack paused, thunderstruck; dozens of questions crowded through his mind, 'do you have a brother or sister?' 'Am I a good Dad?' 'Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?' 'Who will be waiting for you to return to?' all pressing to be asked, but he couldn't, he couldn't know before it happened. Swallowing hard he took their hands and smiled tightly, "The Doctor then?" he finally managed

Ianto seemed to be having the same problem with speech and just nodded, Rose took his other hand and squeezed it, "Trust me, I'll be fine. Even if you don't trust him, trust me. I, unlike him and Dad, can fly the TARDIS."

Jack barked out a laugh, "Cheeky minx. I bet I taught you to fly it too! We ought to get a spaceship, it would make the commute much easier."

"Jack, no!" Ianto stifled a laugh, "We are not getting a spaceship to work every day."

"Awww, but it'd be fun. We could…"

"Dad!" Rose shrieked, "I don't want to know."

"How did you know what I was going to say?" he pouted, even Ianto hadn't worked out what he was referring to yet.

"I grew up with you, and you've got that look in your eye, that says that very shortly, Daddy and Tad are going to disappear and it would be best not to try to find them."

"We don't…" Ianto looked horrified, then blushed and cleared his throat. "Anyway, if you're going to be around for the wedding we'd better get you something to wear, Jay can take you tomorrow if you like? She knows what the colour scheme is and stuff. We need to make you an identity whilst you're here…"

The former time agent and his daughter looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Yes, Jack decided, he was really looking forwards to being a father.


	5. Chapter 5

They entered the Hub together and both Rose and Ianto were delighted by the sight of a very, very hungover Captain John. He glared at them but couldn't fight a rueful smile; he could only just stay in his chair. "How does she drink so much and still manage to be so cheerful the next morning?" he groaned

Jasmine laughed as she descended from the kitchen with coffees and ran a hand through his hair softly, "I have the constitution of a seventeen year old, remember? And I didn't drink as much as you did. Trust me on this, I was counting."

"Don't ever let me drink that much again, please?" Everyone looked shocked, even though they knew it would only last until his hangover cleared up, "What are we here for again?"

Jazz kissed him gently on the forehead and pulled him up out of the chair, leading him over to the sofa where he collapsed with a groan, "You stay there, let the adults discuss this, OK?" He whimpered when she left and she suppressed a chuckle, "Serves you right; in future, if you want to get into my knickers just say so. Don't try to get me drunk."

"Mmmf." He buried his head in the cushions and tried to ignore the laughter from his ex-lover, ex-lover's current lover and ex-lover's ex-lover. My God Captain Jack Harkness could get around!

"OK." Jay cast a glance at her lover? and shook her head fondly, before turning back to the family leaning on the desks behind her, "Made a decision?"

"Doctor." Rose said with a smile, "Doctor after the wedding."

"So if she's coming to the wedding, she'll need a dress." Jack laughed as the young women's eyes lit up, "Take her shopping, use my card, don't be gone too long…" He hugged Rose to him with one arm and then pushed her off, "Have fun."

"Oh we will." The girls laughed

"Tell John where I've got to, if he wakes up that is." Jazz put down her coffee mug and extended her hand to Rose, pulling the girl up to the invisible lift and waving down to the men as it lifted them up to street level.

Without considering it, they walked though Cardiff hand in hand, both earning the occasional appreciative glance. Jazz laughed at the way Rose responded to the attention, "Who do you remind me of? Oh, your Dad. I can't get my head around the idea of Jack as a father. Which is strange considering how much I used to think about having kids with him."

"Do you ever regret letting him go?" Rose asked quietly, watching the woman she'd always regarded as a mother carefully. The young immortal shrugged with a smile, "I regret losing him in the first place, but not letting him go when I got back. He and Ianto are so good together, and I've got John now. It'll all work out in the end. Everything does."

"Yeah. I guess." They walked in silence for a bit longer, heading for the shop where Jazz had got her dress, "You're Dad's best man, aren't you?" Rose asked suddenly

She laughed, "Yeah, and the only person who's seen both suits. I've got to make a speech without mentioning aliens once. How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"Does that mean not mentioning Dad?"

"I guess it does." She smiled, "I got my dress here, come on." She gestured to an independent wedding dress shop and Rose's eyes shone in excitement

"This is where you took me to get my prom dress last year." Jazz held the door open and smiled, "Remember that, and advise me against purple."

"I shall make a note." The older woman pulled out a dress, "How about this one?"

"Too puffy. What colours am I going for?"

"Pink and silver."

"Classy, Dad I take it?"

Jasmine laughed, "Hey, I agreed with him, their suits are stunning."

"So's your dress." She smiled, "I've seen the photos, remember?"

"Of course, I keep forgetting you're not from around now." She pulled another dress off the rail, "How about that one?"

"Let me try it on."

Jay leant on the wall beside the changing room and sighed, "I'm going to miss you when you go back."

There was silence for a moment until Rose emerged, dressed in a simple pale pink dress with a silver belt, "The first thing I wanted to do when I realised I'd travelled in time, apart from cling to Tad and never let go, was call you. It'll be a wait, but you'll get me back."

Jay smiled and studied her for a moment, "Gorgeous, you like that one?"

"Yeah, it's wonderful. Does it fit with the style?"

"Definitely." She sighed and rested her hands on the girl's shoulders, physically older than her but actually over a hundred years younger, "You'll stun them. Shame we'll have to keep you out of the photos really."

"Yeah." They made their way to the counter, "I've got a date though, when I get back, I'll wear it for that."

"Good, guy or girl?" She had to ask

"Guy, we're going ballroom dancing. I've spent the last fortnight talking to you about it, talking about hair and make-up and stuff. Not that either of us gets much practice at that sort of stuff. But you never said I'd have my dress sorted!"

She laughed, "I'll remember not to mention it then." Her phone rang as Rose paid for the dress and she answered it, her face darkening in concern as she listened to the voice on the other end. "OK, we'll be there before you I suspect. Meet you there."

Turning back to the counter she smiled apologetically at the cashier, "Sorry, an emergency's come up, can we collect this later?"

Rose didn't comment, just followed her out into the street and ran with her towards the main shopping centre, "Two questions, first, what species? Second, how open is Torchwood?"

"Firstly, it's a Chelonian, pre-Bananification. And secondly, we're allegedly secret, by which I mean that everyone knows but we're not allowed to talk about it."

"Shit."

"Yeah, that's about the measure of it, how fast are you?"

"Faster."

"Good, cos I hear gunfire." Both women lengthened their paces and sped through the crowds, keeping pace with each other in the direction of the current disaster

The first thing Rose did on entering the building was activate the fire alarms, the second was yell at the turtle-like alien to get his attention, the third was to duck as it tried to shoot her. She looked across at Jay, who was covering the Chelonian with a gun and realised her mistake instantly. As the immortal fired, she threw herself backwards through a shop doorway, just in time as a second shot from the alien blasted into the place where she had once been.

She couldn't die here, she had to get back. Chancing a glance out she saw that the area was clear apart from her godmother and the heavily armed alien. The commander could handle herself, and couldn't die, Rose could. This rule had been drummed into her ever since she'd first gone out with Torchwood at the age of seventeen; let the immortals handle anything dangerous. People sometimes wondered how her family let her go out in dangerous situations, it was because there was always someone there to die for her if needs be. And because someone had to.

"Look, bloody stop it. You're under bloody arrest." Jasmine's voice rang out, more annoyed than scared, as always.

The alien didn't seem to approve of that idea, because a couple more shots were fired, causing an undignified squeak from the head of Torchwood. Ianto's voice rang out in Rose's earpiece and she sighed in relief, "Finally, look, come in at the top end. Jazz has got it occupied at the bottom end, if you come in at the top you should be able to get close to it."

"Which is the top end?" Jack asked

She frowned, "Well I'm in… New Look at the moment, so you wan tot come in by… Is it Gregs up at the other end?"

"Yes." Ianto confirmed, "Are you safe?"

"Yeah, secreted behind the entrance to New Look, I'm going to go up to the upper level now." With their warnings ringing in her ears she ran through deserted racks of clothes to the elevator and crouched down on it as it rose to the upper floor. Once she got there she dashed out into the upper hallway and got as close to the railing as she dared, peering down through the plastic foliage.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: I'm scared by how much this fic has eaten me, but probaby just a couple of chappies left to do, including a very special event...

* * *

The Torchwood 1 commander was crouched by the side of the food stand in the middle of the court, with the Chelonian keeping her down with occasional warning shots down either side. At the far end of the court two men were approaching, one dressed in a dark blue RAF jacket and slightly ahead of the other, both obscured for the moment by the escalators. It wasn't long though before they couldn't go any further without the Chelonian seeing them.

Rose bit her lip as she saw Jack signal to Ianto stay where he was and dart out to get behind the alien. At first they all thought he'd managed it, that he would make it into the doorway without being seen, but at the very last moment the alien swung round and a bolt of light lifted him from the floor to slam him into a window.

Jay froze in shock as she saw Jack get shot; from the corner of her eye she could see Ianto having to restrain himself from running to his lover, but he was a professional and they were at work, later, she knew, he would break down. Casting a glance back at where the teenage commander had hidden, the Chelonian turned to study its victim where he lay slumped on the ground, his gun a good two feet out of his reach even if he woke up; but the movement towards him brought the mortal tea boy into its line of sight.

"Tad!" Rose heard a voice yelling as the alien swung round on her father, then realised as it turned instead to face up to the level where she crouched that it was hers. It almost seemed to be smiling as its x-ray vision revealed her, barely concealed by plastic foliage and rooted to the spot by fear, but once it raised its gun to deliver what she was sure would be a killing shot the smile faded. It blinked stupidly, looked down at the section of its side that it had exposed, then across to Jay who stood there still with her gun poised, then back up to where Rose had now disappeared, running around to get to another position where she could cover it with her gun. Blinking stupidly twice as Ianto also came into play, unable to decide between the four targets and unable to focus on even one of them. Finally, looking like something from an action/comedy film, it keeled over backwards, rocking slightly on its shell as if to add to the effect.

"Is it dead?" Rose called down, not lowering her gun until Jasmine had checked and confirmed. As soon as she had, both Rose and Ianto ran to where Jack still lay, surely due to wake up soon…

Sure enough, he gasped back to life before Rose got there, clinging to Ianto's hands as if he was never going to let go. She skidded to a halt and fell to her knees beside them, hauling them both into a tight hug. "I'm sorry."

Jack steadied his breathing and kissed first Ianto's forehead and then Rose's, "What are you sorry for?" he asked

"For yelling out like that…"

Ianto tucked her head under his chin, "You have nothing to be sorry for Rosie." The endearment slipped out before he'd even realised and she flinched

"Don't call me that, please don't call me that." Tears filled her eyes again

"What happened?" Jack asked, still confused as to the events that had happened whilst he was dead

"The Chelonian, after it shot you, it went to make sure you were dead I assume, which brought me into its line of sight. Rose called out a warning and it turned its attention to her." Jack had frozen and Ianto slapped him on the back of the head, "Don't. Jack, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."

"But…"

"Dad!" Rose chastised, "It wasn't your fault. Stop trying to blame yourself for everything."

"Will he ever?" Ianto asked fondly, kissing the top of Jack's head gently

She laughed and stood up, wiping tears from her eyes, "Will you ever stop worrying?"

"We're as bad as each other, aren't we?" Ianto smiled softly also standing up and giving Jack his hand to help him up. The immortal swayed and allowed his lover to hold him whilst he steadied himself, when he was recovering from a death was the only time they were close whilst at work.

Jay, recognising that the family moment was over, approached them with her phone pressed to her ear, "Yes, I think it's a bit big to move at the moment, just get the place sealed off for a couple of hours. Feed them some story about faulty fire alarms or something, health and safety." She paused and waved a hand in annoyance, "No! Not elephants! Health and safety John, everyone will believe that. No, just do that, then go back to sleep. So, sleep, not sheep. Oh… Oh drink a pint of water and go away. Love you." She slammed the phone shut and glared at Jack's amused grin, "Don't say a bloody word Harkness, I remember when you were just as bad."

"All I was going to say was rather you than me. At least you'll be able to keep him in check better than me." He pecked Ianto on the cheek and pulled away from him, walking over to the body of the alien and prodding it with his boot and determinedly ignoring Jasmine's amused and dubious snort, "So what do we do with this then?"

Ianto puffed his cheeks out, "It's a bit big, isn't it? I'll call Rhys, see if we can get a Harwood's lorry to move it."

"Good thinking, this place must have a loading bay for lorries, mustn't it?" Jack looked around, lost as ever in a shopping centre

Rose pulled a swipe card from her wallet and pointed down a corridor, "It's down there, let's just hope my pass already gets us in."

"Why do you have a security pass for the loading bay?" Jack asked outside the door as it clicked open, revealing a large room full of boxes and forklift trucks.

"Spoilers, but I can drive one of these too." She swung into the cab of one of the trucks and started it, "Now shift out of the doorway, I don't think Tad would be too impressed if I ran you over."

"Never mind Yan, I wouldn't be best pleased." He grumbled, stepping back to let her go past before swinging onto the back. "What are you going to do?"

"Pick it up of course, we can't push it, we'll scrape the floor."

"Definitely his daughter. Jay," he called over Rose's chuckle; the Torchwood commander was watching them in shock, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks as she clutched her sides, "Is Gwen dealing with cover up?"

"I've put John onto it," she straightened up with difficulty, "He was doing an advertising stunt for a computer game that went a bit OTT. It damaged the fire alarm and sprinkler system so legally the place has to be closed due to health and safety laws."

"Good thinking." He jumped off and helped his lover and ex-lover brace the giant turtle as Rose picked it up on the lift, then watched her take it into the loading bay in amusement, "One thing about this job, it's never boring. Did you manage to get onto Rhys, Ianto?"

"He's coming round now himself, wants to see this giant turtle. Gwen's on her way now, she got a call from Andy this morning, he had something he wanted her to take a look at." The administrator explained, hands on his hips and a smirk on his lips, "I bet you she learnt that from me."

"Can you drive a forklift truck?" Jack asked in astonishment, wrapping an arm around his waist when he just nodded, "You, my gorgeous Welshman, are full of surprises."

"Jack, we're at work." He reminded him, not really complaining if he was honest. "And I learnt a lot of stuff whilst I was drifting, driving a forklift truck is just one of my talents."

"I'm well aware of it." The immortal smirked and laughed at the look of disgust on his daughter's face, "You know, I won't believe you if you tell me I'm not like this in twenty years, I haven't changed for the last hundred after all."

"Trust me, that's the last thing I'd say. You brought me up to tell the truth." She grumbled, linking arms with Jay, "Let's get round the back to wait for Rhys, leave the lovebirds to it."

"Better idea, Rhys knows us." Ianto pointed out, "You two get back, we'll deal with Rhys. See you back at the Hub, and don't let Captain John touch my coffee machine."


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks passed strangely but smoothly. Jack, Ianto and Gwen formed the central team, joined by Jasmine and, after a week and a half, Mickey Smith to make up what the usual team would have been. On top of that, Captain John went everywhere Jasmine did and Rose was more proficient than either of her fathers was happy with; all experienced alien investigators, all good friends (apart from Ianto and John, but they got by by baiting each other constantly). This meant that even though the rift was increasingly active, Jack and Ianto were able to spend time together, planning their perfect day and enjoying each other's company more than they would ever be able to otherwise.

This evening was one of those occasions, when Jazz had yelled them out of the Hub (affectionately of course, but yelling none the less) back to the house. Rose was on the team, so they had the house to themselves, and they were making the most of it.

Jack groaned and crossed his eyes, uncrossing them to glare at Ianto who was chuckling at his expense, "Ianto, I have been alive for over one hundred years and I have never had to consider the complexities of table decorations. When I was born, marriage was an outdated concept which no one considered necessary any more. The one time I have been married in the past I let her mother organise it all. I am not a table decoration person. I don't even know what a freesia is!"

"It's a type of flower." Ianto smirked, "You know, we could just go to bed and I'll arrange it with Jazz in the morning." He offered, "You don't have to do this."

"I want to." Jack took his hand across the table and laced their fingers together, gazing into his eyes, "I want to be a part of this, no matter how much it confuses me. That's part of the magic, isn't it?"

"Probably." Ianto leaned across and smiled as his partner met him halfway in a gentle, tender, loving kiss. "I've got a secret; I don't know what I'm doing either."

"That makes me feel better." Jack smiled and kissed him again, "At least you know what a freesia is."

"I have here in my hand," another kiss, "a leaflet," and another, "from the Guernsey Freesia Centre." Jack rolled his eyes and took he proffered leaflet, "I cheated."

"You always cheat." Jack growled, tracing patterns on Ianto's hands and arms with the tips of his fingers, "So… what colour freesias do you think?"

"I think… Mixed, bright colour, remind us of Summer." Jack's fingers left his arms as he left the armchair and joined him on the sofa. "Bright colours go well with silver."

"Do they?" The older man wrapped his arms around his lover's waist and pulled him close, nipping softly at his neck before pressing kisses along his jaw and up to his lips, "So it's good with the colour scheme."

"Yup." Ianto twisted slightly and Jack could never work out how he did it, but the immortal ended up falling backwards on the sofa so that he was lying with Ianto on top of him, "Or we could go with pinks…"

Jack moaned as Ianto's hands slipped under his white T-shirt and rested there on his waist, "Too much pink." He managed, "Too many clothes."

"Jack!" Ianto chided, pushing the T-shirt up to press a kiss to his lover's now exposed stomach, "That was unrelated."

"Not from where I'm sitting." The older man gasped, "What about the bouquet? Don't we need to throw a bouquet or something?"

Ianto chuckled and pulled Jack up to get his T-shirt off completely, "If you want to, we could, I don't know, fire a Champaign cork or something. Of you could throw the bouquet. When did you last go to a wedding?"

"Erm… God it's impossible to think straight with you doing that." Ianto stopped for a moment and Jack managed to form coherent thought, "1973? Or maybe '72."

"Really?" The young man watched him with surprise evident

"Yeah, they died less than three years later. Both Torchwood of course." Jack explained bitterly. He reached out and stroked Ianto's cheek gently with the pad of his thumb, "I'm scared Yan. I'm so scared…"

"Hey, it's OK." Ianto reached forwards to kiss the tears from Jack's cheeks and found his lips for a long, slow, comforting kiss; then he picked up a pillow and hit his partner with it, "We're supposed to be thinking happy thoughts. Cheer up! We're getting married in a fortnight."

"Freesias." Jack managed a smile and pulled Ianto's T-shirt off too, trailing his fingers down the young man's sides, eliciting a moan, "Check. Champaign cork?"

Ianto fought the Jack-induced fog, "Erm… check? Venue?"

Jack gasped suddenly as Ianto shifted, "Bedroom, now sounds good."

"Jack…" the young man warned, even though it felt like a really, really good idea

"Do you want Rose to walk in on us like this?" he gasped, squirming out from underneath his lover and picking him up to carry him upstairs, his heart lifting once again at the childish giggles and the sheer joy of being with Ianto.

'Just in time too.' He reflected, as the front door burst open with the whirlwind that was his daughter and he set his lover gently down on the bed. Thirty seconds to close and lock the bedroom door and return to the bed and it was just him and Ianto and a stopwatch. "I like this new larger team." He muttered to himself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note:** Urk, sorry about this chapter in advance. You may be able to tell that I've never been to a civil partnership ceremony (by the fact that I haven't attempted it). This is because I've been to several dozen religious wedding ceremonies but actually very few celebrations (I sing in the church choir) and don't trust myself not to mess it up. Huge thanks to Potterfan89 for her encouragement today

* * *

Rose knocked on the door and pushed it open gently, grinning like a maniac. Her Tad turned round from the window to smile at her and cocked an eyebrow in appreciation, "Give me a twirl then. Absolutely stunning." He added as she complied. "Sleep well last night?"

"Yeah, I've been out of it for about ten hours." She went over to hug him and look out at the view with him. They were staying at the same hotel where Gwen had had her wedding, but for the night before a well as the night after the ceremony. Jack had insisted (earning him general astonishment) that they spend the night before the ceremony apart; Rose had been to him first and knew that he'd spent the whole night at the window, watching the stars and fighting the nerves, "How about you?"

"I got a couple of hours, as you can probably tell." He smiled ruefully, "I don't sleep well without Jack."

"You've done better than he has." She smiled as Ianto groaned, "You know he doesn't really need sleep, not much anyway. It'll be fine!"

"Yeah, as long as we don't get an alien invasion or something." He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the blue police phone box that had appeared some time during the night, "Oh, I spoke too soon."

Rose laughed, "I've got a secret. And I'm only allowed to tell you because you physically can't tell Dad until he already knows." Ianto looked at her again in interest and she stood on tiptoes to whisper into his ear, "Jazz, the TARDIS and I kidnapped the Doctor last week. We've gone all around time and space picking up some of the people they met when they were travelling."

"Oh God, how many?" Ianto looked seriously worried so she straightened his tie to reassure him

"Six, Jazz knew who she wanted to get and made preparations for them. It's all good. Honestly Tad, it's going to be perfect."

"Is this hindsight or nostalgia talking?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and gazing out of the window again, "Hindsight is 20-20…"

"But nostalgia wears rose tinted spectacles, yes I know." She muttered, leaning into him happily, "No aliens, other than the invited ones of course. No weirdness, apart from the usual wedding weirdness. Someone gets slapped I suspect, but it wasn't noteworthy."

"Jack." Ianto predicted. Another knock on the door drew their attention, as Rhys appeared, "Hey Rhys."

"Heya Ianto, sorry I'm a bit late. Finally managed to escape from Gwen. My God, and I thought she was bad at our wedding!" Ianto had asked Rhys to be his best man, as he was the closest male friend he had since Owen's death and they'd got much closer since Gray had devastated the city. The fact that Jack had beaten him to asking Jasmine was also a contributing factor.

"You're still early actually, I wasn't expecting you for another quarter of an hour or so."

"But you're already ready." The other Welshman pointed out as Rose made her exit

"I've been awake for three hours."

"Got the Jitters?" Rhys commiserated

"Partly." He smiled, "Partly missing Jack, that was the first time I've tried to sleep properly without him since he got back."

"Gwen never told me where he went, just that he'd disappeared on you." It was clearly a question phrased as a statement

Ianto sighed with a smile, "End of the universe, and back. He went through hell whilst he was gone, worse than we did by far."

"That's why you all forgave him so quickly?"

The younger man turned away, the garden suddenly extremely interesting, "The others don't, didn't know… Gwen doesn't know where he was or what happened to him. We forgave him because he's Jack, and you can't stay mad at him for long."

"I managed." Rhys pointed out, secretly pleased and surprised that Ianto had told him something that Gwen didn't know

"You thought he was screwing your girlfriend." He smiled, "I would have stayed mad at him if I thought he were screwing your girlfriend, or anyone for that matter."

"Bet that's fun."

The young man grinned wolfishly, "He's not the playboy he makes himself out to be. But you didn't hear that from me."

* * *

Jack straightened his bow tie for the fifth time in the space of twenty minutes (yes, Jasmine was counting and timing him) and fiddled with his cufflinks. Eventually she grabbed his hands to keep them still and glared at him, "Jack, it's all going to be perfect. Stop fretting, you're making me nervous."

"Sorry." He muttered, "I'm supposed to worry, aren't I? It's my wedding day. I've got all the worries of 'Will he show?' 'Who's going to get thumped?' 'Has the cake arrived?' and, of course, 'Is my daughter being at my wedding a year before she's born going to cause a hole in space and time?'"

"Jack." She rested her hands on his shoulders and kissed his forehead, "He arrived last night, somewhere between two and three. He will not let anything go wrong."

"You what?" he blinked stupidly and she laughed

"The Doctor arrived last night, I think he's currently propping up the bar with John. I hope so anyway, I've put him on babysitting duty."

"What did he do to deserve that?"

"Apart from abandon us, try to leave without you and generally screw you over, nothing." She scowled, "But that's beside the point. It's all going to be perfect."

"How long to go?" He asked with a smile.

"You are stuck in this room for another forty five minutes Jack. And nothing you can say will change that."

* * *

Rose and Jasmine were right, it was perfect. Jack had cried when he saw the friends that Jasmine and the Doctor had gathered; they had rarely stayed anywhere long enough to form friendships, but some they had met remained imprinted on his mind: Das and his girlfriend, Nancy and Jamie from World War Two London, Colonel Levin and, the one who thrilled him most, Valeria Mamentova.

The ceremony itself went without a hitch, and now they were waiting for the speeches. Jack was getting nervous, knwing that Jasmine was going to talk about both of them and the Doctor was going to talk about just him and Gwen was probably going to talk about both of them; he was in serious trouble. Ianto seemed to realise his nervousness and squeezed his hand, rubbing his thumb along the gold band on his ring finger, "We made it Jack. Against all the odds, we made it."

Jack kissed his partner gently and smiled, "Yup, it's now official. Now can we run before Jazz starts talking?"

A playful slap to the back of his head, which had clearly not come from Ianto, indicated that she'd heard that, and that the answer was probably no, "I was going to say nice things about you." She looped her arms around his shoulders from behind and winked at Ianto, "But now I'm not so sure. I might tell everyone that I'm your wife but that it won't be legal for three centuries."

"They'd believe you." He pointed out glumly, "Hang on, it's not true, is it?"

"Don't be daft." They looked up as the Doctor stood on a chair to make his speech, "I thought I was going first, oh well…"

"Ladies and Gentlemen. I know it's usually the bride's father who's supposed to introduce the speeches, but as I'm sort of acting as Jack's unofficial father figure, and he can be such a woman at times, no offence ladies, I thought that that was probably me." He cleared his throat and grinned across at Jack, "I've known Jack for a very long time, longer than either of us would like to admit, mainly because we refuse to believe that we're actually that old. When I met him, it was really like having a son. I was constantly having to tell him to tidy his room, stop running off and generally sit down and shut up. But it was also like having a brother, because I found someone who I could laugh with, who could empathise with my problems and who was more than happy to build treehouses and play Cops and Robbers with me, or our equivalents at least." There was laughter and he winked, "I should add at this point that we were grown men by this point, but as Jasmine will probably tell you later and as I'm sure you're all aware, that can be far worse than children.

One of my greatest regrets is losing contact with Jack, and I know that the blame for that rests fully with me, and for that I apologise profusely. Jack is, and always has been, a hero through and through. I know there have been times when he hasn't seen it himself, but there are people in this room right now, and many more not here, who are only alive because of his actions. And I don't mean that he gave blood or something like that, he was prepared to give his life to save theirs. Evidently this only half worked, because he's still here today, but that doesn't make him any les of a hero. In fact, it means that he's been able to go on and do it again.

"So I think what I'm trying to say is, Jack, you're a hero. To me, to everyone in this room, but especially, I'm sure to Ianto. So here's to Jack and Ianto, and great happiness in the years to come."

After the toast Gwen stood up, winking at the two men across the table from her. "For those of you who don't know, Rhys, Ianto's best man, is my husband; but Jack is my boss and Ianto is my best friend, so he's let me say this instead. Yes, Ianto's shagging the boss. Everyone who's worked with them, however, knows that this isn't strictly true; Jack's name might be the one on the official stuff, but Ianto's the one who runs the place. The Doctor's right, Jack's a hero, but they do say that behind every successful man is a surprised woman." Laughter again, "And without Ianto, Jack and the rest of us would be a right mess. Sadly, two members of our team are no longer with us, but I know they would agree, maybe secretly in Owen's case, but he'd agree, that without you, life would be very boring. Ianto is the man who holds us together, even when he's falling apart himself." Jack and Ianto were holding each other's hands tightly, fighting back tears as much as Gwen was, "He's the one who cleans up after us and gets us everywhere on time. And 'looks good in a suit' I seem to recall was the introduction. Even on my first day, Ianto was introduced as the general back-up man, and there is no one on Earth I would rather have at my back.

"Over the years I've known you, which isn't nearly as long as it seems, you've been my best friend, my confidant, a level head in a frequently insane world and a reminder that as long as we work at what we want, anything is possible. So here's to your anything, which has turned into somehting truly magical. I would ask you all to raise your glasses to Jack and Ianto."

With an evil glint in her eye, Jasmine stood up and patted Jack on the head, "As the Doctor and Gwen have been so nice to each of you, I think it's my turn to spill the beans on you as a couple, isn't it?" She leant on the back of Jack's chair and grinned, "For those of you who don't know; Hi, I'm Jack's boss. But he's in denial about that." Behind her back he rolled his eyes, "I've known Jack for longer than you would believe is possible, and quite honestly, Ianto deserves knighting. I'm struggling to think of stories that I'm legally allowed to tell you here. Apart from that one about the…"

"No!" They both yelled

She pouted, "See, I told you he was in denial about who's in charge here. Anyway, apart from that one story that apparently I'm not allowed to tell you, I legally can't tell you most of the stories about them, because their work is so classified." She's checked with Ianto about how much his family knew the week before, they all thought he worked for MI5 or a similar organisation, "This makes talking about them very difficult, techincally their very existance is classified, but as they're both here I think I'm OK to tell you that yes, Jack and Ianto are real."

"More's the pity." A voice called, easily recognisable as John

"Oi!" But she was grinning, "Jack and Ianto, I can't really think of one of them without the other any more. Where Jack saves the day, Ianto will be the one who gave him all the information and made it possible. Where Ianto is the expert, it's likely that Jack brought us the knowledge in the first place. Admittedly, Ianto is the expert because Jack's forgotten it, like he forgets to put the handbrake on at the top of a hill, or forgets to put the cat out."

"We don't have a cat." He pointed out, lacing his fingers togetehr with Ianto's

"Or even forgets they have a cat in fact. But never anything important; he'd never forget their anniversary, or Ianto's birthday, or the names of his nieces and nephews. He remembers, even with his sievelike memory. And yes, I know I can't complain about his memory when I managed to completely forget his existence, quite an acheivement I think you'll agree.

Ianto, on the other hand, never forgets anything. He's the most efficient man I've ever met, and that's saying something. But there are times when he forgets to stop, forgets to live; and he's got Jack to remind him to. Between them they make a perfect team: Two men who don't need words to know what the other's thinking." She paused, "Actually that can be quite scary at times, you can get the feeling that they're having a completely separate conversation from the one they appear to be involved in. I don't think there's anything more for me to say that hasn't been said already really, so many congratulations for the past, best of luck for the future and don't forget to enjoy the present. To Jack and Ianto." She raised her glass and toasted them once more, practically glowing with delight.


	9. Chapter 9

Ianto clasped Jack's hand tightly as the older man pulled him up and over to the waiting bottle of champagne. Jack pulled it from the ice and passed it to him before clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "We don't have a bouquet to throw, sorry ladies, but we have got a champagne cork instead. If you're ready Ianto?"

"Ready." He smiled, "Together?"

Jack's voice was warm in his ear as the older man wrapped his arms around his partners waist to cover his hands on the neck of the bottle, "I should think so. Three, two, one…" The cork burst from the bottle loudly and the champagne bubbled over their clasped hands. Laughter rang out from the Torchwood corner of the room (quite a large corner) and they sighed at the predictability, "Who caught it?" the captain called, kissing the back of Ianto's neck softly as he turned away to pour out two glasses of champagne

"John!"

Several female members of Ianto's family looked interested, but everyone who knew him was falling about laughing. "If I'd known I was so funny I would have gone into stand-up years ago." The time agent muttered to Gwen. He actually looked slightly nervous about the whole thing.

The first song started up and Ianto pulled Jack gentle towards the dance floor; it was Wind Beneath My Wings, and each had wanted it for the other. Gwen had commented that that said a lot about them. Ianto settled happily into Jack's arms and let his friend, lover and partner's presence surround him. "I love you so much." He whispered, tightening his hold on the older man.

"I love you too. 'Cos you are the wind beneath my wings." Jack sang as they reached the appropriate part of the song

Ianto chuckled and pressed his nose into Jack's neck, inhaling the scent that was uniquely him, something other-worldy yet Earthy at the same time, fire and musk and spice and Jack. Always Jack. "I get the feeling we'll be doing a lot of dancing tonight."

"Oh the myriad ways I could interpret that comment, but yes, I suspect you're right. Why do you have so many cousins?"

"Evidently my eye for detail isn't the only thing I've inherited." He smirked

* * *

Jack finally sank into his seat next to Ianto and pulled him close to kiss him, "Heya gorgeous." He smiled, "I think I've danced with almost every woman in this room. Twice!"

His young man laughed, "Same here, we're just too good looking."

"There is one notable woman who neither of us has yet danced with…" Jack mused, looking around the room for his errant ex

"Jasmine?" Ianto asked. When Jack nodded he gestured towards the door, "Last seen dancing with John, then disappearing without him but with Rose."

"What are they planning, I wonder?" He frowned at the bar, "I've found Rose, she's with John at the bar."

"Shit." Ianto sat bolt upright at that and scowled

"It's OK. They're just talking, he's only got eyes for Jasmine at the moment." Jack chuckled, "Speak of the devil, she's just arrived again, through the window."

"She's been out to the TARDIS?"

Jack's jaw dropped in astonishment when he saw what she was wearing, "Looks like it, I bought her that dress for her 17th birthday. And he kept it, or she kept it…" The young woman had now made her way over to them and plonked herself in his lap, "What do you want?"

"Charmed, I'm sure. I was going to ask you for a dance, Livin' La Vida Loca, give them a show they'll never forget. And…" She pointed at Ianto, "I want you for Holding Out for a Hero."

"You do, do you?" The Welshman teased, "Well I have no arguments with that."

"You haven't seen how we do Vida Loca yet." Jack pointed out, standing up and turfing Jazz out of his lap, "Commander, may I have the next dance?"

"Captain, it would be a pleasure." She grinned as he pulled her onto the dance floor and her boyfriend put the right song on, "This takes me back a bit." They laughed as it became obvious that it was the Shrek version

"Likewise, now shut up and dance." The dance floor was nearly empty when they had walked onto it, as the song picked up pace and they got into the clearly choreographed routine it emptied completely and everyone gathered to watch them. Once upon a time they'd won dance competitions in three galaxies with this dance, and time hadn't dampened either their enjoyment of it or their skill.

At the end, Jazz was left arched over backwards in his arms, her fingers trailing on the floor. They were both breathing heavily and laughing as he pulled her upright and set her back on the floor, "Still got it."

He chuckled and hugged her tight, "We'll always have it doll. Now I want to see what you do with poor Ianto."

"Is that so?" She slipped away from his and grabbed Ianto instead, "He wants to see what I do with you Yan."

"Oh, what are you going to do with me?" He asked as his husband escaped to the edge of the dance floor to watch

"I ask myself that every day dearest."

He stuck his tongue out and took her in a ballroom hold as the song started. "Shrek again?"

"It's the one we know." She pointed out as she stretched out, then gasped as he dropped her to swing her across the floor, "But I do need to concentrate apparently."

He dragged her back into his arms ad swung her out again, "Does he know?"

"Know what?"

"That we learnt this whilst he was away."

She snuck a look at Jack, who was watching them in open-mouthed astonishment, "Apparently not."

"Oh good."

Eventually the dance finished and the applause was enormous. Judging by the looks on Jack and John's faces they had certainly put on a show. The two once-lovers looked at each other for a moment before sweeping into the middle of the floor to capture their respective partners for the next dance, a much slower one for which they were both grateful. John held Jazz close as they simply swayed to the music, both watching Jack and Ianto doing the same close by, "They're gorgeous together." Jazz commented

"I'll get jealous you know."

"You're the one I'm dancing with, aren't you?" Her eyes were closed as she rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her hair, "Besides, they're gorgeous together, much better than either one with me."

"You make anyone you stand next to look gorgeous. Even Gwen's chubby hubby."

She thumped his shoulder, but not hard, she didn't have the energy. "You're a charmer."

"Yup. Come on, let's go outside for a bit, you're dead on your feet." They left hand in hand and didn't notice the smiles that Jack and Ianto gave them, or the sadness in Rose's eyes.

Outside it was quite cold, but surprisingly dry for October in Wales. They sat on the steps with Jazz resting her head on John's shoulder and John's arm around her waist. After a few minutes of just sitting there, enjoying each other's company, John seemed to remember something and started fishing through his pockets. He soon found what he was looking for and held up the champagne cork, "For you."

She took it from him nervously and studied it, "Is this what I think it is?"

"That depends on what you think it is. It's a champagne cork."

"I can see that." She looked puzzled

He covered her hands with his own and wrapped them around the cork, "It's sort of an engagement cork. I guess I'm asking you to marry me."

"Oh John." She pulled him close and kissed him gently, "I don't know… Well yes for starters but… That's so… sweet."

"Don't ever describe me as sweet, please?" He teased, pulling her close again and singing for joy inside, "At least, not in public. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Isn't marrying me going to tarnish it anyway?"

"Don't care." He kissed her, "You're going to live forever, I'm not. I want to stake my claim on the time we've got together." She blinked twice and then threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. "Do you think anyone would notice if we slipped away now?" He asked when they broke apart for air

"Don't care." She grinned wolfishly and let him pull her onto her feet, practically dancing up to their room.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just so you know, this relationship with John and Jasmine isn't completely out of the blue, they do have a history. Again it's something I will develop on later


	10. Chapter 10

The following morning after breakfast, the Torchwood family gathered on the lawn around the TARDIS to see Rose, the Doctor and Jack's friends off. His friends had been introduced to a very different life, and Valeria in particular was reluctant to leave. "Sorry doll." He hugged her again, "I promise I'll come and see you when you get home."

"OK Captain." She smiled, radiantly beautiful again. Jasmine and Rose had refused to tell him how they'd managed to heal her, but he had a pretty good idea without their help, "Look after him Yan-tow. I look forwards to seeing you both again."

"Likewise." He kissed her cheek and she blushed, practically running back into the TARDIS.

Colonel Levin saluted them with a smile, "Captain, it's good to see you again, and in happier circumstances than last time. I wish you every happiness."

"Thank you Colonel, I'm sure I'll see you again."

"No doubt." He shrugged, "Especially as I have just been hired by UNIT in Russia, I am currently working with Martha Milligan, although I haven't mentioned that to her. Timelines and all that."

"I'm glad to hear it. I have a good feeling about the future of UNIT if it is in your hands. Take care, and if you're ever in the area."

"I will be sure to say hello." He shook their hands and followed Valeria into the phone box.

Next up were Bas and his girlfriend Rebecca, "Jack, I owe you one."

"Yeah." He smiled, "But I owed you one first, so I guess we're probably even."

"I'm not going to argue the point with you." He laughed and pulled Jack into a one-armed hug, standing back to let both of them kiss Rebecca on the cheek, "Have you got a honeymoon planned?"

"Yeah, we're doing America, coast to coast in a camper van."

"VW campervan." Ianto added, "Somehow he managed to get one covered in flowers and rainbows." He rolled his eyes, "We aren't going anywhere near Alabama."

"Or the South in general." Jack grinned, "We'll go North, over the Rockies…"

"Yes Jack, we're going to get lost. Anyway… Glad you could come, both of you."

"Thank you for having us." Rebecca smiled, "We're both glad to see Jack so happy."

"Me too." Ianto hugged his partner close with an arm around his waist, "I'm a lucky man."

"No denying it." Bas smiled, "I'm sure we'll see you again."

"No doubt." Jack smiled

Next came Nancy with Jamie. She hugged Jack tightly and he picked Jamie up when she moved on to Ianto, "I dunno, only you could have made me see it your way I think Jack. It feels like it should be wrong, but… You're so happy together."

"A wise man once said, the past is another world." Jack smiled as he hefted Jamie further up in his arms, "It was him actually."

The Doctor had just arrived and was looking smug, "I should know, I've been there often enough. You okay Nancy?"

"Yeah, better than ever. Rose told me when you were there that we would win the war, that there was a future. I didn't believe her, but now I've seen it, I can believe. Jamie and me, we've got a whole world to look forwards to haven't we?"

"What year is it?"

"1943. Not much improvement since you saw us."

"It'll get better." Jack grinned, "Not long to go until the 1950s and 60s, rock and roll all the way."

"What?" She looked perplexed

"Nothing. But trust me, you'll enjoy it." Jack wrapped both arms around Ianto's waist with a smile as Nancy took Jamie back, "Thank you for coming, both of you. It's good to see you again. And by the way, I'll see you in a couple of years, when I get back from France." The immortal's eyes gained a far-away look, "Just… Don't mention today, I won't know about it."

"What?"

"You're come forwards in time, and I went back in time. It's hard to explain. Just trust me, you'll see me when the war ends."

As they too made their way into the TARDIS it was the Doctor's turn. He saluted Jack casually before hugging him, "And I dare say I'll see you again, in a week when I run out of milk." He rolled his eyes, "But what were you saying about Nancy and Jamie."

Jack looked embarrassed, "Well it was my fault, wasn't it? So when I got there, I served in France and for Torchwood when I was on leave, then when I came back I went and found Nancy and Jamie and lived with them in London as their father. I remember the fun I had trying to keep Nancy's kids at home during the 1960s." He shrugged, "Anyway."

"You're a good man Jack, and you're an extremely lucky one Ianto. Keep an eye on him for me?"

"Yes, sir." The young man smiled, "I'll keep him in check."

"Then you're better than I am." He puffed his cheeks out and hugged Ianto too, "I'll be around. Any time you need me…"

"Thank you Doctor." He smiled, "I'm glad you could make it."

"Likewise. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. Time to be off though, the bus is leaving the station."

Rose was the last one to bid them farewell. She'd already said goodbye to Jasmine, John, Gwen, Rhys and the rest of the team and was quite emotional. She hesitated a moment before hugging them both tightly at the same time, "Tad, Dad. I'll probably see you in about half an hour." She laughed, wiping her eyes, "You knew all along didn't you? When you sent me off to that bunker, you knew I'd go back in time."

"Yes, we've got it marked on the calendar in advance. Although I dare say that knowing that you're going to be with us won't make it any easier." Ianto held her at arm's length and studied her, "We'll see you in 20 years. And, for what it's worth, you have our permission to see the elephant on the way back."

"Really?"

"Really really." Jack confirmed, "Have a good trip. Take lots of photographs."

"You too. Enjoy America, bring back lots of stories to tell me as I'm growing up." She hugged them again and walked backwards to the TARDIS, waving once as she disappeared inside. The Doctor winked and followed her in and, after a moment, the strange blue box faded away with a sound like a mechanical elephant.

Jack kissed Ianto gently, "We've got one year to ourselves you realise? One year before she's born."

"I had done the maths." He smiled as they turned back to their Torchwood family, "Come on, we've got a plane to catch in exactly four hours. And then America's waiting for us."

"It won't know what's hit it." Jack grinned, taking his hand again to walk back to the hotel and into their future.

* * *

**Author's note:** Finished! It's stopped eating me at last, and now I don't really know what to do until November. I'll think on it. Thank you to Mc Parrot, Sarah1278, X-Athenea-X, Solsbury Girl, bbmcowgirl, TheyDidn'tHaveMyName and hotflower901 for your wonderful reviews. And, of course, to Potterfan89 for keeping me distracted and amused at all times of the day and night.


	11. Epilogue

**Author's NOte:** Oops, I'm a goob and forgot to add the epilogue. Sorry it's so soppy in places

* * *

The cog door rolled open on a tense atmosphere in the Hub. Rose pretended to be oblivious to it as she dumped her bag on her desk and pulled a folder out of it, sighing heavily, "You wouldn't believe the day I've had. Honestly, it was virtually impossible finding anything in there."

The rest of the team weren't having any of it, "Rose! You vanished, we lost communications with you, your tracker showed that you weren't in Cardiff. There was a time shift and you were in it." Rick was leaning heavily on his desk and glaring at her, failing magnificently at keeping the relief out of his eyes, "Where did you go?"

"I never left Cardiff." She smirked as Jack appeared on the balcony outside his office, "Heya Dad, I understand I went missing."

"Didn't you?" He came down and hugged her, "You were gone three hours, what have you got for me?"

"Have a look." He took the folder and slipped out the first photo; it was one of him and Ianto, clearly oblivious to the rest of the world as they danced towards the end of the night.

"Thanks, I think that's just what we needed. Will you come up to my office to discuss it?"

"Sure thing, just let me get a coffee." She knew that the team were watching her in confusion as she made her way to the kitchen and heard someone following her, "Heya John, you weren't too worried were you?"

Her brother was watching her from the doorway, "Dad said not to worry, but he and Tad have been holed up in his office since you left, they're not fooling anyone."

"They knew I'd come back."

"We know they'll come back, doesn't stop us worrying. Where did you go?"

She was silent until the coffee machine had finished, then passed him a coffee and sighed into her own, "I went back in time, twenty years. I was in the same place but not the same time. Ended up going to their wedding and getting a lift back with the Doctor."

"Seriously?" He looked impressed, "That's cool, how long have you been gone then?"

"Two months, nearly one with them and then just over a month with the Doctor." She shrugged and made for the door, "It was a big elephant."

* * *

In Jack's office he and Ianto were on the sofa, holding hands and talking quietly with the relief evident on their faces, "Good trip?" Ianto asked when she arrived in the doorway with a tray of coffees.

"Fantastic, very big elephant."

He smiled and stood up to hug her, "I can't believe you've only been gone three hours, it feels like forever."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, "I missed you, I couldn't stay with him for long, I just wanted to get home."

"We missed you too." Jack whispered into her hair as he hugged both her and Ianto tightly, "But not bad for a first solo outing." He smiled

"Speaking of which." She looked at her watch, "I need to get ready, I've got a date in three hours, it's going to take me forever."

Jack grinned, "I don't know who you take after most in that, him or Jasmine."

"Oh Tad, definitely." She laughed as he shoved her playfully, "Shall I finish my report and get off?"

Puppy-dog eyes always worked, "Go on then, we'll be home before he comes to pick you up. You know that John's got a date tonight as well, don't you?"

She had stopped in the doorway in surprise, "No, who?"

Jack scowled, "He won't tell us, wheedle it out of him will you?"

"On it."

There was a knock at the door and Ianto went to open it; outside there was a nervous young man in a smart suit. "Good evening Mr… Ianto, sorry."

"Heya James, you don't have to knock you know. You've known us long enough to just come in." When the boy blushed he smiled fondly, "Well come on then, she's just finishing getting ready."

"And has been for an hour." Jack's voice rang out from the living room

"Hi Jack."

"You taking her dancing?" Ianto gestured to a chair and sank down next to Jack again, settling into his arms automatically

"Yeah, she was saying how much she enjoys it. John not around?"

Jasmine clattered down the stairs with her dancing shoes in her hand and perched on the sofa next to her Tad to put them on, "He's got a date. And he won't even tell me who or where."

"I think he's taking Jasmine out." Jack suggested with a smile, "She needs cheering up."

"She's practically our mother." Rose pulled a face

"He's never described it as a date, just a night out." Ianto pointed out, "But she's in Mexico."

"Not Jasmine then." Rose fastened her last buckle and stood up as James mirrored her actions and offered her his arm, "Right, don't stay up. And whatever happens, don't call me. See you later."

"Have a good night. Wear a coat." Ianto called, snuggling further into Jack's arms as the house became theirs again and turning to claim his lips.

Rose smiled at James as he brought her a drink and sat next to her. Without her dads around he was much more relaxed, although the drinks they'd already had had definitely helped in that department. He covered her hand with his on the table and rubbed the palm with his thumb. She blushed and leaned across to kiss him softly. They'd broken apart and were gazing into each other's eyes when hands gripped her shoulder and she shrieked, resisting the urge to go for her gun. Laughter behind her made her spin round and punch the boy behind her.

John rubbed his shoulder with a laugh and stepped back out of reach, "Heya big sis. Having a good night?"

"I was." She glared, "What are you doing here?" He blushed and seemed to realise his mistake, "You're on a date aren't you?"

"Erm…" He rolled his eyes exactly like Ianto did and sighed, "Give me a minute, I'll be back."

They watched as he made his way back to the bar and returned with a boy slightly older than him, "This is Tom, my boyfriend. We've been together for a month now."

She hid the surprise, "Nice to meet you Tom, why don't you join us?"

The two boys sat down and she smiled apologetically at James, but he didn't seem to mind, "You having a good night?"

"Yeah." John smiled shyly at Tom as the older boy took his hand on the table, "I know I haven't…" He looked up as a tune they recognised started and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the dance floor in time to start Livin' La Vida Loca. "Look, I haven't told anyone yet because Tom's not out. He doesn't want anyone to know yet."

"Does he know about Dad and Tad?" When John nodded she smiled, "If you don't tell them when you get home, or when you see them next, I'll tell them you were drinking tonight. I'm going back to James's, so you can take him back to ours if you like."

"Thanks sis." He chanced a look around the floor and grinned, "People are watching us."

"You remind me so much of Dad."

"Good job I dance like him too, isn't it? God this takes me back."

"Shut up and dance." She growled as he nearly dropped her.

They flopped back bonelessly into their seats and laughed, "Sorry, it's a family tradition really. Our aunt and uncle taught it to us when we were little, she and Dad did it in competitions years ago."

"Not a problem." James smiled, pulling Rose into his lap cheerfully, "You'll have to teach me."

"I'd love to." She smiled as he pulled her up to do a dance she'd last done at her dads' wedding. When they returned to their seat John and Tom had gone, leaving a note in John's handwriting which said only 'Going home, see you in the morning. Wish us luck.'

"Back to my place?" James had wrapped his arms around her from behind and she leaned back into his embrace

"Sounds like an excellent idea." She turned to kiss him and then took his hand to lead him out. In the doorway she let him help her put her coat on and kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I'm so glad to be home."

"Why, where have you been?" he asked in confusion

Rose hesitated for a moment before coming to a decision, "I'll tell you on the way home, it's a long story and has to stay completely between us, OK?"

"You work for Torchwood, don't you?" he asked outside

Her jaw must have dropped, "How… Yes, is it a problem?"

"I've seen your Dad occasionally, it's not hard to work out. And no, it's not a problem, as long as you come home."

"I promise I will come home."

"Will you come back to our home?" He kissed her, "I mean, we're going to have to consider uni accommodation soon, would you rent with me?"

"I'd like that." The last nineteen years of her life had been panned out; someone knew she was going to reach this point. From here on in it was a blank slate. And it felt good, very good.


End file.
